Resolutions
by For You Blue
Summary: Set just after the end of Ultimate Alien The Forge of creation, Ben muses on what he might have to do in regards to the mutant-monster Kevin has become, while also getting some advice from his ten-year-old self.


**Summary**:

Set just after the end of _The Forge of creation_, sixteen-year-old Ben muses on what he might have to do in regards to the mutant-monster Kevin has become, while also getting advice from his ten-year-old self.

And to avoid confusion: **Ben**=Ben10 ultimate. **Benjamin**=Ben10

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My first attempt at Ben10 Fanfiction. (But I'm an old, moth-eaten hat around these boards, nearly nine years!) I've watched and researched everything I could get my hands on, but if something is amiss, feel free to let me know. Thanks guys.

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**_Disclaimer_**: Man Of Action owns all, I'm just having a bit of a play around with some familiar characters. (Although, if MOA is being generous, I'd like a Rath plushie please. :) )

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**Resolutions. A Ben10 Ultimate Alien Vignette.**

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**W**hat about Kevin?" Gwendolyn Tennyson whispered, her voice low and full of pain.

Sixteen-year-old Ben Tennyson set his jaw.

It was the last straw.

All this time they'd spent together, all the good they'd accomplished as a team...God, Kevin had practically become like an older brother to him and Gwen..._did he even spare a second thought for her? I thought he loved her!_

"Don't worry Gwen," Ben spoke up, narrowing his bright green eyes as he gazed out at the millions of Alien X's floating in the emptiness of their universe, out towards where Kevin had disappeared. "I'll take care of him."

Gwen placed her hand on her cousin's shoulder, her identically coloured eyes affixing on Ben with panic. "Ben, please tell me you're not thinking what I think you are."

Ben shrugged off Gwen's hand and looked slightly down at the red-haired girl. "What if I am, Gwen? Like Professor Paradox just said, I will know what to do when the time is right just...just back off for a minute, okay?" He jammed his hands in his jean pockets and marched away from the assembled group, shaking his head.

"Ben! Ben wa—oww," Gwen suddenly hissed, grabbing her right arm and Professor Paradox was at her side in an instant, pushing up the sleeve of her sweater and then her shirt.

The dark-haired Paradox tutted and shook his head. "A nasty cut you've got there, Gwendolyn, I suppose we can spare a few more minutes to see to it before we leave," he procured a device and a bandage from his right white-coat pocket.

The ten-year-old Benjamin Tennyson quickly decided that maybe he better go see his older self during this time and raced across to where his future self had halted.

-xxx-

Ben ran his hand over his face and then pushed back his hair from his forehead in frustration. _I don't know how I'm going to do this. But if it comes down to the universe and me, versus saving Kevin, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that_...

"Where do you get off being such a jerk to Gwen?" A juvenile voice interrupted Ben's thoughts and the teenager looked down at his past self, the brown-haired boy raising an eyebrow up at his counterpart. "I thought we were beyond all that, now we're _so_ boring and mature." Benjamin added sarcastically.

Ben almost smiled, but settled for a glare instead. "You don't understand the dilemma I'm in, kid," he folded his arms and mimicked his younger self's stance. "Look, Kevin in the past year has been the best friend I've ever had, apart from Gwen."

Benjamin shrugged his shoulders. "I gotta say that's seriously weird, future-Ben. Also, somethin's buggin' me, why is Gwen so protective of Kevin and vice-versa," he used hand-movements to illustrate his point and Ben tilted his head to the side, before shaking it.

"I don't think you want to know. Let's just say they care about each other...a lot," the older Tennyson added and Benjamin looked like he was going to be sick as he worked it out.

"First of all, gross! Second of all, ewww!" Benjamin eyed his older counterpart as he changed the subject. "You said you've gotten stronger, right? How many aliens do we have now? You didn't tell me before, c'mon, how many?" He demanded excitedly.

Ben shook his head, _I'd_ _forgotten how pushy and mouthy I used to be_. "A _lot_. Now we'd better get you back, Professor Paradox needs to get you back home," he turned around to walk back to where the professor was finishing up bandaging Gwen.

"Yeesh. I know we were all jerky in the future, but I thought we would have learnt something from meeting Ben10K," Benjamin spoke up and Ben stopped mid-stride to look over his shoulder at his younger counterpart, still stationary in the same spot.

Ben had never thought so at the time, (being so cocky and self-important as he was,) but he was a really skinny, little kid at ten; obsessed with new video games and finding new ways to freak out Gwen. But still...there was something wise in ten-year-old Ben's words. He remembered thinking the same way about Ben10K.

However, Ben was now in the position of authoritarian...well practically. He knew he had to be the one acting responsible and wise. "I'm _not_ being jerky, Ben...and _you_ should also know it's not good for anyone to know too much about their future, that's why I can't tell you everything you'd like to know," he added, turning back around to face his past self.

Benjamin shrugged his shoulders, looking mildly impressed at how his future self spoke. "Fine. You're probably right, future-Ben. But I did want to ask a few things, non-Omnitrix things; and then you can go back to being a jerk afterwards. And I promise won't say anything more about you _being_ a jerk, deal?"

Ben folded his arms and sighed, rubbing his temples. "Deal. What is it?" He dreaded answering the questions, preparing to come up with fifty different ways of _refusing_ to answer them.

Benjamin sided up to his older self. "One, do we have a car?"

_Good, an easy one_. "Yes, we do and it's awesome. Next question?"

The ten-year-old rubbed his chin. "Oh, err...are we still playing baseball?"

Ben shrugged, "sometimes, in the summer. Mostly we play soccer. Next?"

Benjamin rolled his green eyes and shook his head. "Next, next, next...are we still failing math?" He asked with a murderously cheeky glint in his eye and Ben couldn't help but smirk.

"Yep. Rushing around saving the universe doesn't help with equations. Any more?"

The ten-year old Omnitrix wielder scratched his head, "right...when does our voice break?"

Ben was almost enjoying answering the pesky questions from his past self, it was helping him calm down a bit. "When we're thirteen, it happened while we were on the karaoke machine at the Tennyson family reunion. Gwen never lets us live it down, every time _Blaze of Glory _comes on the radio...or television...well _anytime_ it's playing."

Benjamin started laughing his head off, clutching his middle. "That is so funny! I can just see your face when...oh hold on a moment," Benjamin looked horrified. "I'd forgot that's going to happen to me...and it's no use trying to prevent it, cause we think this is a dream!"

It was Ben's turn to chuckle at the panicked look on his past self's face. "Ahh, you'll get over it. Anything else? Want to know if we have a _girlfriend_?" He teased.

Benjamin made a gagging sound. "No thanks. After how mean Kai was...it's not Kai is it?" He almost sounded hopeful, and Ben shook his head; a fleeting thought going to the Navaho girl, wondering what she looked like...if she'd become nicer over the years.

"No. I haven't seen Kai Green in six years. Trust me, though, you'll know our girlfriend when you see her," Ben smiled in remembrance, ignoring the gagging sound Benjamin repeated. "So, I've answered your questions, kid, let's get going." Ben motioned ahead.

Benjamin chewed his lower lip. "There's one more thing, future-Ben," he rubbed his upper arm then dropped his arms to his sides. "Do you...I mean, do we still have nightmares involving Kevin in his mutant form?"

Ben raised his brow in sympathy. "Oh, those," he rubbed his eyes. "I'd really like to say that you won't ever have another one, but..."

"But we do," Benjamin finished off the answer quietly. "And now the jerk's back _being_ a mutant, and he's twice as powerful because of your high-powered Omnitrix, right?"

Ben nodded, "yeah, it's a bit like a _living_ nightmare," he conceded as his past self looked serious for a moment and folded his arms over his chest again.

"Hey, do you remember Ben10K told us about the Null Void, after the battle against Vilgax? That Kevin was still trapped in there?" Benjamin pointed out. "Does that mean that when you find Kevin, you're going to put him back in the Null Void?"

Ben hesitated. _Maybe that is the way it's suppose to go down. Ben10K definitely said Kevin was still in the Null Void_... "I couldn't tell you, kid. But like Professor Paradox said, I'll know what to do..._we'll _do what's right."

Benjamin shrugged. "Yeah. It's kinda sucky, Kevin turned out to be pretty cool as a friend, right?" He guessed, Ben nodded grimly as the ten-year old continued. "Yeah. You know I always thought we'd be that mix of cool, funny and sarcastic, like Kevin was, at your age. 'cause we saw how serious Ben10K was, which was pretty scary serious." He pulled the grim expression in a mimicry of their older counterpart's statue.

Ben raised an eyebrow with a small chuckle. "I know what you mean. You disappointed?"

Ben's ten-year-old counterpart shrugged his slim shoulders. "Not _really_. I mean, your..._we _are sort of serious and 'mature' now, but that's totally bad-ass anyway. We're like a _real_ superhero, like we'll be as a grown-up. You know, less like Ultra-Boy and more like Superman or Batman." He pointed out with a grin.

"But you _could_ be less of a dork."

Ben rolled his eyes. _I'd_ _never realised I talked so much_... "We're a teenaged hero with the most powerful device in the galaxy, we are definitely _not_ a dork," he revealed, putting an arm around Benjamin to lead him back to Professor Paradox and Gwen. "I'll have you know that we are universally known as _The Great Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix_."

Benjamin snorted as they walked along. "Yeah right. See, statements like that make you sound _majorly_ dorky," he shot back, only causing a short laugh from his older self. But the ten-year-old Benjamin Tennyson really didn't expect much of a reaction, Future-Ben had a lot on his mind.

"Well, there's a lot that's happened in the past two years, kiddo," Ben ruffled his disgruntled counterpart's hair. "Trust me, you'll have less time to be concerned with being cool."

Benjamin looked disgusted and pulled away as they approached the crashed ship, their cousin and Professor Paradox standing nearby. "Well I guess you're okay," he studied Ben with a raised eyebrow. "At least you're not talking about yourself in the third-person yet, like Ben10K did sometimes."

"Oh, he does," Gwen interjected sardonically, bending down to the level of the younger version of her cousin. "Hate to tell you this, young Ben, but one day you occasionally refer to yourself not only in the third person, but as _The Great Ben Tennyson_."

"The Great Ben Tennyson is blaming Rath for the third person thing." Ben smirked a little over at Gwen, as his past self blinked and then shook his head angrily and pointed up at his older counterpart.

"No. No you do not! Aww man...!"

Paradox laughed. "Oh but it's true, my young friend. The rest of the universe gives you that moniker..." he trailed off when he saw the blank look on Benjamin's rounded features. "I mean, that title," the professor tried substituting, only to earn the 10-year-old Ben's raised eyebrow and the boy scratching the back of his head.

Ben folded his arms and stood with his legs slightly apart. "Try something simpler, Doc," he suggested helpfully to the professor, who sighed defeatedly.

"They call him," Professor Paradox pointed at Ben. "That is the future you, that."

Benjamin shrugged. "Oh I get it. _The Great Ben Tennyson_...I like it," he grinned broadly and mimicked his older counterpart's stance. He slumped slightly though as the older members in the group all laughed at him.

"Of course you do." Gwen finally managed, then looked serious. "All set?" The female Tennyson questioned her past cousin, who shrugged his skinny shoulders.

"You bet. I've had enough of this future slash dream," Benjamin used his fingers as quote marks, eying off his older counterpart as he did so. "You're a weird teenage dude, future Ben Tennyson, but I guess I'll have to get used to it."

Ben rolled his eyes and smiled at his mischievous past self. "Oh, thanks." He said bluntly.

Benjamin just grinned in response as Paradox put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "No problem." The ten-year-old narrowed his green eyes. "Seriously though. I hope you can save Kevin, but...I know you will take care of him."

Gwen looked over at her cousin as his counterpart disappeared with Paradox, Ben waved to his past-self, ignoring the expression on Gwen's face as he turned on his heel and walked over to sit on the ramp of the ship to wait for the Professor.

"Don't you walk away from me, Ben Tennyson," Gwen called out, turning on her own heel and walking over to the metal ramp, where Ben flopped down on the edge, resting his arms on his knees as Gwen stood in front of him. "Well? What did past-you mean? Taking care of Kevin?"

Ben kept his eyes on the black, starry palm-ground of the Alien X female they were stationed on, and set his jaw. "I'm not going to discuss it with you now, Gwen," he narrowed his green eyes. "We'll talk later, back home."

Gwen stomped her right, heeled-shod foot and slammed down beside her cousin. "Ben, you're starting to scare me." She looked over her cousin, who suddenly looked very different and much...older. "You're starting to act just like the Ben we saw in the future."

Ben suddenly raised his head, then looked across at his worried, identically aged cousin, his expression cold. "Yeah? Well there's a surprise for you Gwen!" He suddenly snapped. "The Ben we saw in the future? He _was_ me. Maybe that is still my destiny because of what Kevin's done."

Gwen looked on concerned, as Ben jumped to his feet and began to pace.

"I thought maybe that future we saw was going to change, because we befriended Kevin instead of throwing him back into the Null Void," Ben pointed out, halting and spinning around to face his solemn cousin. "I know you love him, Gwen, but this might be how it's meant to play out—"

Gwendolyn Tennyson got to her feet and stood toe-to-toe with Ben. "No! Things have changed. I wasn't using Mana attacks in the future, you didn't have the Ultimatrix—"

"Yeah? Well Azmuth told me he's working on another Omnitrix, it could be the gauntlet one Ben10K was wearing, hmm?" Ben interrupted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Our future may not be exactly the same as the one we saw, Gwen. But I may have to make the same decisions."

Gwen put her hands on Ben's shoulders, looking slightly up at him with a loving smile. "Ben, there is no-one prouder than me of how much you've matured and changed in the six years since you've gotten the Omnitrix. But I don't want you to lose that compassion and kindness you've always had."

Gwendolyn rested her hand on the side of Ben's face, almost surprised to feel the slight prickle of stubble against her palm.

It was only after seeing the ten-year-old version of her cousin, was Gwen forced to realise how much Ben had really changed. Not only personality wise, but physically also. Even a year ago, her dorky cousin had still seemed like a little kid to her, despite being the same age. Now in the space of a year, Ben suddenly wasn't a boy anymore, he was almost a man.

"Ben. You care so much, that's why we all love you. Even though Kevin doesn't admit it, he cares about you as much as we do," Gwen soothed, trying to calm that determined look in her cousin's identically coloured gaze. "Kevin is troubled, that's all. If we can get him out of that mutant form it will—"

The wielder of the Ultimatrix pulled back from his cousin's grasp. "No Gwen. It's not going to be all right. I have to stop Kevin, one way or another. I don't think that monster can come back from this, and I don't want you to try, do you hear me?" Ben ordered.

Gwen tapered her eyes, which suddenly took on a purplish glow. "How dare you?" She snarled. "That monster is my boyfriend and your best friend! Did you suddenly stop caring about Kevin in the twenty minutes since he mutated to save your ass?"

Ben paused and raised his brow as he sighed deeply. "I don't know. I'm the saviour of the universe, remember Gwen?" He pointed at the Ultimatrix on his left wrist. "I can't let personal convictions get in the way of billons of people. If it's a choice of one man verses the entire universe, what would you do?"

Gwen's eyes lost the purple glow and she hesitated before answering. "If I were you?"

The slightly taller Tennyson shrugged his shoulders. "If you were anyone, Gwen, faced with the same decision. We've offered Kevin a way back from his mutant life before, remember when we were kids?" Ben shook his head and stepped away from his cousin.

"I know what he's like in that form, now he's even stronger. Vengeance...power-mad...I have to stop him, Gwen, no matter the consequences," Ben rubbed his upper arms. "Even I have to sacrifice every last conviction and ounce of forgiveness I still have to do it."

Gwen grabbed Ben's shoulder, a tear running down her cheek as Ben didn't even glance over at her at the touch. "Don't sacrifice yourself, Ben. I can't lose you too, either physically or emotionally. I know, deep in my heart, that Kevin can come through this."

There was a flash of light and both Tennyson cousins glance over at where Professor Paradox had returned. The Professor pushed down his goggles off his eyes and let them fall around his neck.

"I've returned your past-self safe and sound to your Grandfather's RV," Paradox chirped cheerfully, if in a slightly lower voice to avoid the notice of the celestial beings. He looked between Gwen's tear-stained face and Ben's scowl with a sigh. "Did I interrupt anything?"

Ben shrugged his shoulders and sided up to the time-travelling professor. "Nothing that can't be resolved once we get home," he looked over at the torn ship. "We'd better get on board so you can zap us all back."

Professor Paradox watched Ben walk the short distance to the ship's ramp and march into the freighter. He shook his head and strolled over to Gwen, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder as she wiped her eyes.

"It will all work out, young Gwen. One way or another destiny will be written, all things happen in time," Paradox smiled broadly. "Even miracles."

Gwen looked up at the star and celestial being filled sky. "I don't want to talk about the future anymore, Professor," she clenched her fists in frustration. "I want my boyfriend back, and my cousin not to kill him. That's all. I don't want any talk about Ben's glorious future, I don't want to talk about anything other than how to save Kevin."

Paradox put his arm around Gwen's shoulders and led the fiery red-haired girl up the ship's ramp. "Sometimes things we don't want to talk about and things we do end up intertwining, my dear girl."

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**Some notes**:

Benjamin questions Ben about his future the same way Rusty does to Russel in _The Kid_. (Which is one of my favourite movies.)

The reference to Ben acting more like Ben 10,000 actually comes from the following episodes when Ben seems to adapt the same attitude against Kevin as Ben10K does against him. (See non-canon episode _Ken10_.)

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**I hope you enjoyed. Review if you like, but no pressure. ** ;)


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